Port of Israel, shipping company declares force majeure

The company told customers: "In order to protect your interests and minimize your costs, we sincerely recommend that you pick up your shipment at the Port of Haifa as soon as possible. If necessary, we recommend that you contact your freight insurance company for assistance." Although Ashdod continued to operate, shipping companies noted congestion at the port and the port's website was blocked for security reasons. "Even now, we continue to work at the port as usual while meeting Israel's needs," it said on Facebook. Port workers maintain business continuity, loading and unloading essential goods for Israeli residents. The port continues to operate as usual..."

"At present, Israel's major ports continue to operate, including the main terminals in Ashdod and Haifa, but there is currently congestion in Ashdod due to increased security checks and labor shortages, resulting in increased wait times," MSC told customers. Inland services - including road and rail - remain fully operational in and around the country.

The company said it would continue to accept bookings to Israel, but warned: "Due to current government restrictions on certain UN regulations, certain dangerous cargo cannot be released at the port of Ashdod." Therefore, it is currently not possible to create new orders for restricted dangerous goods. "If the affected cargo is already in transit, we make contingency plans to unload it at other ports and we keep our customers informed of any changes in the destination of the cargo." MSC added that its offices in Israel had been closed.

Maersk said it would continue to accept bookings and its services "remain operational" - with the exception of dangerous goods in Haifa and Ashdod. Maersk said it was "offering a range of relief options to customers who are in or shipping goods to Israel," including waiving change of destination (COD) fees - "subject to reloading and transfer costs, as well as any sea freight price differences to the new destination." The suspension of Detention and Demurrage at all locations in Israel until November 8. "This rule applies to imported containers destined for Israel, as well as all containers out of the gate for Israel at the first loading port."

The deadline for COD requests is three days before the estimated time of arrival at the port of transshipment and five days before the estimated time of arrival at the port of final discharge." In addition, Hapag-Lloyd's official website issued an announcement on the 13th that the operating situation in Israel remained relatively stable. For Ashdod and Haifa, the ports have imposed restrictions on the reception of dangerous goods, so Hapag-Lloyd is no longer accepting bookings for dangerous goods to and from Ashdod and Haifa.

Freightos, which has offices in Israel, confirmed its employees were safe and said shipping rates to Israel had dropped. "Container rates from China to Ashdod port have dropped by about 10 percent since last week, but are in line with overall rates in the region. Israeli carrier Zim warned of possible service disruptions at short notice and announced a war risk premium of $80 to $120 for containers entering and leaving Israeli ports. Insurers are reportedly charging up to 10 times the extra premium for voyages to Israel, equivalent to 0.15 to 0.2 percent of a ship's value, or tens of thousands of dollars, up from 0.0125 percent previously.

At the same time, oil prices are also rising on the back of the conflict, with Brent crude up 3.3 percent over the past five days. "If these increases continue, they could impact transportation fuel surcharges and future fuel adjustment factors," Ligentia told clients.